September 15, 2021 – New York state Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday led a coalition of 20 fellow state attorneys general from around the country calling on Congress to included funding for environmental and climate change fighting efforts in a major domestic spending bill now under negotiation.

The James-backed coalition of state AGs called for infrastructure spending in the bill to address a transition to cleaner energy sources, efforts to curtail the worsening effects of climate change, and address the effect environmental hazards have played on low-income communities.

Taken together, the push from the state attorneys general is a call for a sweeping spending plan that aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions and carbon production in the coming decades. It also dovetails with state-based efforts, including from attorneys general themselves, to file legal challenges to any changes in regulations that could loosen environmental regulations.

“People throughout the state and the country have long faced critical threats to their health and safety from climate change, but low-income families, indigenous people, and communities of color have endured the greatest suffering,” James said. “New York has taken great strides in combatting the threats of environmental injustice that have plagued our communities, but the federal government must now take immediate action to support Americans in every corner of the nation.”

The measures the attorneys general are seeking include funding to reduce climate change-causing pollution, boosting water and drinking water services, strengthening air quality and addressing methane pollution.

By Nick Reisman, City of Albany Spectrum News
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